Wisconsin Players Voice Desire to Play College Football in 2020

MADISON, Wis. – With a fall football season on the brink of collapse, college football players – including those at the University of Wisconsin – are attempting to make their voices heard before it’s too late.

After news began to leak out Sunday of an emergency meeting between the commissioners of the Power Five conferences, discussing the growing concern of trying to play football and other fall sports this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, players convened from all major conferences to release a joint statement about their opposition to postponement.

The hashtags they used on social media was simple and to the point: #WeAreUnited and #WeWantToPlay

“We all want to play football this season,” the statement said. “Establish universal health and safety procedures and protocols to protect college athletes against COVID-19 among all conferences throughout the NCAA.

“Give players the opportunity to opt out and respect their decision. Guarantee eligibility whether a player chooses to play this season or not. Use our voices to establish open communication and trust between players and officials; ultimately creating a college football players association.”

The move echoed the #WeAreUnited movement in the Pac-12 earlier this month and was quickly trending on the social media platform.

The statement was the product of a Sunday night Zoom meeting of some of college football’s biggest stars, including Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard and Alabama running back Najee Harris. Locally, UW players jumped on the trend, too.

Offensive lineman Jack Nelson, defensive tackle Matt Henningsen, tight ends Gabriel Lloyd and Hayden Rucci, kicker Collin Larsh, long snapper Adam Bay, running backs Julius Davis and Garrett Groshek, tight end Jake Ferguson and left tackle Cole Van Lanen were just a few current players to voice their willingness to play this season.

Safety Eric Burrell retweeted the statement and added in a previous tweet pleading with the NCAA.

Cornerback Faion Hicks tweeted a person shedding a tear, saying not having football this season would be worse than a breakup.

Wisconsin is scheduled to hold its first practice of preseason camp today.

The Big Ten presidents met on Sunday, the second consecutive day they’ve met and the first since the Mid-American Conference became the first FBS league to cancel games for the fall season. According to a report by radio host Dan Patrick Monday, Iowa and Nebraska were the only two schools who voted to play this fall.

Several Big Ten schools opened preseason football camp last week, but the league announced players would be prohibited from wearing any protective gear other than a helmet on Saturday. That move was made to prevent full-contact work in camp. Six of the Big Ten’s 14 football teams were forced to shut down summer workouts because of positive tests.